It’s the last day of 2025 and we’ve just got time before the New Year drinking begins for me to share a few of my favourite things. Sorry Julie, but bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens didn’t make the list.

You can also hear me playing some of my favourite songs from this year in podcast number 129 .

Favourite albums

My favourite album of the year is “I Still Want To Share” by Sophie Jamieson. Check out my blog post about it.

 

Here is a list of 40 albums I loved this year.

My 10 absolute favourites are shown in the list above with the yellow box around.

The rest are in alphabetical order.

All in all, I’ve listened to well over 700 albums this year and I’ve shared them here.

P.S. an extra couple of albums that Kicker recommended but I only just got around to listening to… Second Wind by Melys & After The Flood by Ed Kuepper & Jim White.

Favourite instrumental albums

Favourite EPs

 

Favourite cover version

  • Someone Who Cares (originally by The Only Ones) – Heavenly (from the single “Portland Town”)

Favourite re-issues / compilations

  

Best gigs of the year

Here are a handful of photos from the 66 gigs I’ve been to this year. A separate blog post about all of those is coming soon.

 

 

Favourite fiction books

These were not necessarily released in 2025, but that’s when I have got round to reading them.

A Mask Of Flies (Matthew Lyons) – Starts off as a heist-gone-wrong story, then becomes a supernatural horror epic. Brilliant and imaginative storytelling.

Mickey 7 (Edward Ashton) – The film adaptation changed the title (to Mickey 17) & quite a lot of the story / characters. The film is pretty decent but the book is far better.

Seagulls (Edwin Stevens) – a fucked-up story about some fucked-up people in a fucked-up North Wales caravan park. The author is yer man from the band Irma Vep.

Cold In July (Joe R. Lansdale) – Fantastic crime novel by the author of Bubba Ho Tep, the film of which is one of my all-time favourites.

 

Favourite music books

One Two Three Four: The Beatles In Time (Craig Brown)
With a Little Help From Their Friends: The Beatles Changed the World But Who Changed Theirs? (Stuart Maconie)

Having read Hunter Davies’ book as a teenager and pored over Mark Lewisohn’s Complete Beatles Chronicle & Ian McDonald’s Revolution In The Head in my 20s, I didn’t think I would ever need to read another book about The Beatles. But both of these are fascinating, brilliantly-written books that I’m very happy I took the time to read. The Maconie book is particularly good at telling the band’s story in an innovative way whilst conveying great love for the music and the people at the centre and on the fringes of their world.

Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska (Warren Zanes) – There are also loads of books about Bruce and I’ve read several of them! But as with the 2 Beatles books, I thoroughly enjoyed this and learnt loads.



Bless Me Father (Kevin Rowland) – In the latter chapters of Ted Kessler’s books, he explains how he had several meetings with Kevin as they planned to collaborate on his biography. I remember being very disappointed when Ted says that the meetings just stopped and the proposed book was dead in the water. So I was delighted when it was announced that Kevin had written the book himself. And what a book it is. Like the Miki Berenyi autobiography I loved last year, Kevin’s story is very dramatic and eventful before you even get to his music-making. He’s been one of my musical heroes since I bought the Geno 7″ when I was 9. That single doesn’t have a picture sleeve and neither do my copies of “Come On Eileen” and “Jackie Wilson Said.” So when I went to the book signing at Liverpool Rough Trade, I took along my copy of “Let’s Get This Straight From The Start” instead. If you could have somehow told the young Chorizo in 1982 that one day he would meet and chat to Kevin Rowland and get that record signed, I think he would’ve exploded with joy!! The 54 year old version just about held it together at the time, but can’t help smiling as he’s typing this now because HE MET KEVIN FUCKING ROWLAND!! 😁😁😁😁😁


Hope I Get Old Before I Die: Why Rock Stars Never Retire (David Hepworth) – Each of the 36 chapters is about a different artist and as always with Hepworth’s books they’re full of thoroughly entertaining storytelling and wild theories.

Sandinista! by The Clash (33 ⅓) – Micajah Henley – I’ve read a lot of this series and this is one of the best. Until I read this, I wasn’t aware a shortened 12-track promo version of the album was given to US radio stations in advance of the album’s release. That particular nugget of information inspired my new favourite parlour game “Which songs would be on YOUR 12-track version of Sandinista?” (coming soon to a toy shop near you)

Unrequited Infatuations: A Memoir – Steve Van Vandt – A very entertaining read. Little Stevie knows how to tell (and embellish) a good story and he’s near the top of my list for “famous people I’d like to spend an evening down the pub with”

Favourite Nicolas Cage film

Let’s face it, the man deserves a category to himself.

I thought The Surfer was brilliant. I also loved Arcadian & Dream Scenario.

Favourite films that don’t have Nicolas Cage in them

(not necessarily released this year, but I watched them in 2025)

River – My favourite film of 2022 “Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes” also had a time travel theme, the same director (Junta Yamaguchi) and writer (Makoto Ueda) and a few of the same cast members. But “River” is even better.

Other favourites:

  • Uprising
  • Corner Office
  • Against The Ice
  • Mads
  • 28 Years Later
  • Deliver Me From Nowhere
  • Fried Barry
  • Strange Darling

Others I really liked this year:

  • Frankie Maniac Woman
  • Sisu
  • Force Majeure
  • The Killer
  • Chompy & The Girls
  • Mickey 17
  • Wounds
  • All My Friends Are Dead
  • A Complete Unknown
  • The Signal
  • Suitable Flesh

 

Favourite TV shows

  • Maid
  • Parasyte The Grey
  • Wyatt Earp and The Cowboy War
  • Dept Q
  • The 8 Show
  • Red Riding Trilogy



Favourite music documentaries

Favourite non-music documentaries

Empire With David Olusoga

 

Favourite radio / podcasts

  • Beethoven Unleashed (BBC) – comprehensive series released to coincide with Ludwig Van’s 250th birthday in 2020 but I only got round to listening to it this year.
  • The Last Hurrah (Spotify) – outrageous foul-mouthed comedy featuring the late, great Rik Mayall as an alcoholic, immoral snowman.
  • Michael Spicer: No Room (BBC) – Season 2 of the best satirical comedy series around came out earlier this year
  • The House At No. 48 (BBC) – fascinating strand of The History Podcast series. It tells the story of a man seeking to uncover family secrets

 

🍻 “Quality Pints” Round-up 🍻

I’ve travelled around various places this year for gigs, football matches, cycling trips & catch-ups with friends and family. In honour of The Bug Club’s brilliant song, here are the some of the places where I’ve consumed a quality pint. I’ve only included places that visited for the first time in 2025. If you find yourself in any of these towns and cities, get along to these establishments for some quality pints.

In no particular order:

Here’s one in France 🇫🇷

and these ones in Amsterdam… 🇳🇱🚲

Quality pints, quality pints, quality pints in your town! 🍻

Please help support all the wonderful musicians, filmmakers, writers and creative minds mentioned in the lists above by searching out their records, CDs, downloads, books etc and BUYING THEM!!!

Previous end of year podcasts:

Related articles:

Posted by on December 31, 2025 in Best of 2025, Best of the Year, Blog posts and tagged , , , , , , , , .

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About chorizogarbanzo

One of the Wizards on the legendary Trust The Wizards podcast. www.trustthewizards.com

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